4 CHILDREN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY _ HOME CALLED UNFIT FOR HUMANS

One of the boys, the 2-year-old, was totally nude when Salt Lake County deputy sheriffs arrived at Eastwood Elementary School Wednesday morning.

The other, 4, was wearing only a diaper and shirt."Both of the children were extremely cold . . . and appeared to be shivering underneath the blanket," according to a report written by Deputy Mark Chidester, who went to the school after someone called the sheriff's office.

The boys, whose father is a Utah Department of Social Services employee, were taken into protective custody. The sheriff's office later took two of the boys' older brothers, ages 8 and 11, into custody after discovering the home they were living in was not fit for humans.

It was the second time in 13 months that the children had been taken into protective custody because of suspected neglect by their parents.

A convenience store clerk called the sheriff's office about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday to report that the two little boys were walking in the area of 33rd East and 33rd South with no clothes on. The morning was cold and rainy, and the clerk was concerned for their welfare.

A passer-by took the children to the nearby elementary school.

Chidester and juvenile division Detective Leslie Taylor talked with the two and then went to their home, the same home the two officers had visited in April 1987. After that visit, deputies took five children into protective custody.

During Wednesday's stop, deputies said they found "extremely unsanitary" conditions in the home, including animal and human fecal matter on the floors and walls.

"The entire house reeked," according to the report. "There was very little edible food in the house. The refrigerator had mold . . . as well as spilled food in the bottom," according to Chidester's report.

The deputies also discovered that one of the children was made to sleep on a thin, garbage bag-covered foam pad on top of a chest of drawers.

When deputies informed the mother, who had been sleeping, that they were going to take her children away, she was unable to find enough clothes to completely outfit the two youngest boys. The 2-year-old's shoes could not be found anywhere, the report said.

In April 1987, deputies found conditions to be very similar. Detective Taylor suffered three insect bites on her body from being inside the home, according to her report. After that investigation, Taylor placed five of the couple's children into protective custody.

Terry Twitchell, Social Services public information officer, said the father would have no access to the Division of Family Services investigating the matter.

Twitchell said the father is not a social worker but is responsible for determining whether people are eligible for state assistance.

Taylor said she will seek possible misdemeanor child abuse charges against the couple.